Forum Discussion
Advocate IHow to view er diagrams(open data model)
Hello Lora_0121,
Yes, when using an Excel file from SharePoint as your data source, the "Open data model" feature in Power BI Service is typically unavailable. This is because Excel-based datasets often don’t create a full semantic model, especially with flat tables or when sensitivity labels are applied, which can restrict advanced modelling features like the ER diagram view.
Kindly refer to the below documentation links for better understanding:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-data-sources
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/service-edit-data-modelsTo confirm, you could test by creating a simple semantic model in Power BI Desktop using a non-Excel source like a manually created table or SQL data and publish it. The "Open data model" feature should then work.
Hope this helps if you have any queries we are happy to assist you further.
Thank you
Advocate IAnonymous
I'm working a report on Power BI Desktop and posting it to Power BI service.
The data source is Excel, and it uses SharePoint connection method.
It's also protected by sensitivity labels.
Are you saying that if the data source is Excel, we can't use the 'Open Data Model' function?
Could you share official documents related to this?
Hello Lora_0121,
Yes, when using an Excel file from SharePoint as your data source, the "Open data model" feature in Power BI Service is typically unavailable. This is because Excel-based datasets often don’t create a full semantic model, especially with flat tables or when sensitivity labels are applied, which can restrict advanced modelling features like the ER diagram view.
Kindly refer to the below documentation links for better understanding:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-data-sources
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/service-edit-data-models
To confirm, you could test by creating a simple semantic model in Power BI Desktop using a non-Excel source like a manually created table or SQL data and publish it. The "Open data model" feature should then work.
Hope this helps if you have any queries we are happy to assist you further.
Thank you